Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 October 2022
543. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Justice the reason that the number of remand prisoners is so low in Portlaoise Prison; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48224/22]
View answer544. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Justice if she will outline the bed capacity at which Portlaoise Prison has operated in each month of 2022; the way that this compares with other prisons in Ireland; the reason for Portlaoise Prison operating at three-quarters capacity while others are over capacity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48225/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 543 and 544 together.
I can advise the Deputy that Section 17(3) of the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1914, commonly known as the consolidated committal order, determines the prison to which a prisoner can be committed. This order currently determines that only male persons committed to prison on remand, pending trial or sentence by the Special Criminal Court shall be committed to Portlaoise Prison. Due to the smaller number of sittings of this court compared to other courts, there are fewer remand and trial prisoners in custody in Portlaoise prison than other prisons.
I am informed by the Prison Service that on a regular basis, for a number of reasons, including sentence management and security and for operational reasons, prisoners are transferred into Portlaoise Prison from other locations to serve their sentence.
The total bed capacity of Portlaoise Prison is currently 291, with 40 in A Block, 181 in C Block and 70 in E Block.
The Deputy may be aware that the E Block in Portlaoise Prison accommodates subversive prisoners only. That wing has a bed capacity of 70 and currently has 10 prisoners accommodated on it. For operational and security reasons other prisoners are not accommodated on this Block.
I can advise the Deputy that the other landings in Portlaoise Prison namely A and C Block have been operating at full or near full capacity for a considerable length of time. On the 3 October 2022 there were 31 and 180 prisoners accommodated in A and C Block, respectively.
The information requested by the Deputy in respect of the average numbers in custody in Portlaoise Prison for the period Jan to Sept 2022 is set out in the table below.
|
Monthly average in custody |
Portlaoise Prison |
|
January |
210 |
|
February |
208 |
|
March |
219 |
|
April |
216 |
|
May |
212 |
|
June |
218 |
|
July |
218 |
|
August |
224 |
|
September* |
219 |
*Up to and including 28/09/2022
